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This Little Piggy Went to Market...

1/27/2016

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My first husband was Episcopalian, so he definitely didn't have my Jewish pork phobia ( or to be more accurate, my pork ambivalence, since I adored bacon). When we were newly married, I decided to surprise him by cooking a fresh ham (something I had not only never cooked, but had never even tasted). I did know that you had to cook pork until there was no trace of pink, to avoid trichinosis. So, I dutifully followed the recipe for fresh ham in The Joy of Cooking. When it had cooked for the allotted time, I took it out to check it: Still pink. Back into the oven it went for another 15 minutes or so and then another check: Still pink. Back in the oven, then another check: Pink. Oven. Check: Pink. This went on for several hours until I pulled out a burned-to-the-crisp on the outside still pink on the inside piece of unrecognizable and definitely inedible meat.

"Honey, " my husband said gently, " that was a SMOKED ham. It's supposed to be pink."

When my kids were growing up, my go-to recipe for birthday dinners was Michael Fields' genius recipe for Choucroute Garni in his marvelous book, "All Manner of Food" (still one of my favorite cookbooks,  as evidenced by the food stains on many pages).

Choucroute is the French word for sauerkraut and the dish can be made with all different kinds of pork like bacon, sausages, pork chops and/or ribs.  It's REALLY porky and makes a warming winter meal ( it helped that everyone in the family had birthdays from December through March).


That recipe was also time-consuming, which was why it was saved for special occasions.But here's another, easy choucroute recipe that can even be cooked on a weeknight. This is traditionally served with boiled potatoes, but to make it Paleo, serve with baked sweet potatoes.

Choucroute Garni
4 servings


Ingredients
1 large onion, sliced
1 TBS coconut oil
2 large pears, peeled, cored and cut in chunks
4 slices raw no-nitrate bacon, ( preferably without sugar, like Vermont Smoke & Cure
   Cider-Brined Low Sodium or Garret Valley Sugar-Free Dry Rubbed) cut in small pieces
1 pound sauerkraut, drained
1/2 pound breakfast sausages, made without grains, soy, or dairy
1 rack spareribs, OR 2 boneless pork chops, each chop cut in two portions
1 TBS olive oil, if using spareribs
3 cups low sodium chicken broth (I use Imagine brand)
4 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley for garnish
Mustard
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1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt coconut oil in large,oven-proof pan.
3. Add sliced onions and sauté until soft, 5 minutes
4.Add pears and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Add sauerkraut and bacon and cook for another 5 minutes, then add chicken broth, bay leaf and parsley sprigs and bring to a boil; cook on low heat for about 15 minutes
6. If using ribs, brush with olive oil and roast ribs in oven for 20 minutes; if using boneless pork chops, salt and pepper then sear chops on each side in a frying pan until browned, about 3 minutes per side.
7. At the same time, prick each sausage with a fork, add about 1/2 inch water to a baking dish add sausages to the dish and roast for 15 minutes
8. When sausages and ribs are done roasting (or when pork chops are seared), lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bury meats in the sauerkraut, cover the pan, and cook in the oven for 1/2 hour. If using ribs, cut the rack into individual ribs before burying in sauerkraut.
9. To serve, remove bay leaves and parsley sprigs, mound sauerkraut on a platter. If sausages are large, cut each one in half and place on top of sauerkraut, then pile on the ribs or boneless pork chops. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with mustard on the side, if desired.

Pork Loin Braised in Coconut Milk
2-3 servings

This is a riff on Marcella Hazan's Pork Loin Braised in Milk, which breaks all of the taboos, eating pork AND mixing meat and dairy. But there's no dairy in this Paleo recipe, so I only feel half guilty :-). The coconut milk cooks down to make a delicious gravy. Served with roasted delicata squash and steamed broccoli, this makes a comforting cold weather meal.

Ingredients
Pork tenderloin, about 1 pound
1 tsp coarse sea salt and a few grindings of fresh pepper
1 TBS fresh rosemary, chopped
1 TBS fresh sage, chopped
1 TBS ghee (clarified butter)
1 TBS coconut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 can full-fat organic coconut milk
Rosemary sprigs for garnish
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1. Mix, salt, pepper, rosemary and sage and rub into meat on all sides.
2. Melt ghee and coconut oil in heavy pan, brown meat on all sides, then remove meat from pan.
3. Using the fat in the pan (pour some off if it seems like too much), sauté the onions until they are soft and translucent, but not brown.
4. Add mushrooms to the onions and cook until soft.
5. Return meat  to the pan and carefully pour in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and partially cover pan.
6. Cook over low heat for about an hour, basting with sauce from time to time, until meat is done. Remove meat from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
7. Raise heat to high and bring sauce to a boil, stirring, until it thickens.
8. Slice tenderloin and serve with sauce, onions and mushrooms . Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.
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Cakes, Reconsidered

1/13/2016

1 Comment

 

When I went  Paleo, I gave away a lot of my old cookbooks. When was I ever going to bake bread, frost cakes, or make pasta again? Now that I've been adapting recipes, I wish I had them back. One book I couldn't bear to get rid of was All Cakes Considered by National Public Radio Producer Melissa Gray, because it's a gorgeous book... the photos are practically food porn, they are so good. Also, because the author offers tons of  baking tips I've never thought of before (see Tips and Hints) and because every cake I baked from All Cakes was absolutely luscious, the book stayed in my "keep" pile.

Ms. Gray, a producer of All Things Considered, baked these cakes and brought a different one to work each week. Her lucky colleagues were the taste testers.I thought that was such a wonderful idea that the year before I retired, two colleagues and I baked a different recipe from this book and brought the cakes to our monthly staff meetings. We were very, very popular!

For the past several years, though, the book has collected dust on my shelf.  Now I have finally opened it again and started to "paleotize" the recipes. And, thanks to the generous permission of the publishers, I can share my efforts with you. (All Cakes Considered, by Melissa Gray, is copyright 2009 and is used with permission of Chronicle Books, San Francisco. Visit www.ChronicleBooks.com )

Baking is as much a science as an art, and Paleo baking even more so. Nut or root flours (like tapioca or cassava) can't be swapped out 1:1  for wheat flour. Coconut flour, for example, absorbs a lot more liquid than other flours and if you substituted it for all-purpose flour 1:1, you'd have a very dry cake indeed (see Tips and Hints for more about flour).


​Missy G's Sweet Potato Pound Cake

This cake is well worth the effort, because it's one of the best I've ever tasted. The author says it makes between 20 and 32 servings. Judging by the way it disappeared when I brought it to my book club and my French class, I'd say 20 was a more accurate estimate. Note that the original cake is a lovely sweet potato color when finished. The Paleo recipe uses coconut sugar, which is brown, so this cake is quite a bit darker, but every bit as delicious.
​
Picture

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All Cakes Considered, by Melissa Gray, is copyright 2009 and is used with permission of
​Chronicle Books, San Francisco. Visit 
www.ChronicleBooks.com
​

Ingredients
For cake
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
2 cups coconut sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup cashew flour or almond flour
1 cup arrowroot powder
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup coconut milk (from can, shaken    
       to incorporate cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup peeled, sliced apples
Coconut oil for greasing pan

Topping
2 TBS cold ghee, cut into pieces
2 TBS coconut sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans



1. About two hours or the day before baking the cake, prick the sweet potatoes with a fork (so they don't explode in your oven), preheat oven to 325 degrees, and bake  for at least 45 minutes until they are soft. Remove from oven and let cool for at least one hour. Scoop out the insides and mash with a potato masher. Measure out two cups and cool to room temperature before mixing into the cake.
2. Position a cake rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of a 10-inch tube pan with parchment paper and grease the bottom and insides of the pan with coconut oil.
3. Cream the 1 cup ghee in a mixer on medium speed.
4. Gradually add the two cups coconut sugar to the ghee, 1/4 cup at a time, beating at medium to high speed after each addition.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time (see Tips and Hints), beating at medium to high speed for one minute after the addition of each one.
6. Reduce the mixer to low speed and add the mashed sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup at a time.
7. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cashew flour, arrowroot powder, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
8. In another separate bowl, combine the coconut milk, vanilla, and maple flavoring.
9. With the mixer still on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and coconut milk mixture, beating after each addition. Start with a third of the flour mixture, beat, then add half of the coconut milk mixture, beat again and repeat until the last of the flour mixture has been beaten in.
10. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then mix the batter on medium to high speed for 2 minutes.
11. Slow the mixer down to the lowest speed and add the apples, mixing until just incorporated.
12. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and use the back of the spatula to smooth the top.
13. In a separate bowl, combine the 2 TBS cold ghee, 2 TBS coconut sugar, and chopped pecans to make the topping. Mix with a spoon until mixture is crumbly.
14. Sprinkle the topping all over the surface of the batter and bake cake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes before testing for doneness. Use a sharp knife or toothpick to test the cake, and poke around in a couple of places (as Ms. Gray says, "This cake can fool ya.")
15. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Unmold the cake by flipping it onto a plate, and then onto a cake rack, topping side up.

​Miss Saigon Cinnamon Almond Coffee Cake

A picture is worth a thousand words. The two pictures that accompany this recipe are priceless to me. My almost-eight-year-old grandson baked this cake. I collected the ingredients but he read the recipe, measured, mixed, poured, and tested the final product to make sure it was done. He wondered why it was called a coffee cake when there wasn't a drop of coffee in it. He also scarfed it down and asked me to bake another one for his upcoming birthday. He loves watching Chopped and Master Chef Junior, and wants to be a pastry chef, a sushi chef, or a hockey player when he grows up. This boy made me a grandmother, and he and his little brother have my heart.
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Picture
Ingredients

For streusel:
2 TBS ghee
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp Saigon cinnamon (regular cinnamon works, too)
1 cup sliced almonds
2 TBS cashew or almond flour

For cake:
1/4 cup Spectrum Organic All Vegetable Shortening (available in the health food section of your grocery store)
1 cup coconut sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup cashew or almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 cup coconut yogurt ( see Paleogram post for 11/4/2015) with 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1
tsp maple syrup added (Note: Some people on Paleo eat raw milk yogurt made from the milk of grass-fed cows. If you can tolerate dairy, you can add the vanilla and maple syrup and use this yogurt instead of the coconut yogurt)
1 tsp almond extract
Coconut oil for greasing pan

1. In a microwaveable dish, melt the ghee on high power, about one minute.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the 1/2 cup coconut sugar, cinnamon, almonds and the   2 TBS cashew or almond flour. Add the melted ghee and stir to make the streusel. Set aside.
3. Position a rack so the cake will sit in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the inside of an 8-inch square baking dish with the coconut oil.
4. Cream the shortening with a mixer on medium speed and gradually add the 1 cup coconut sugar, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the cashew or almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot powder and baking powder together.
7. Add a third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beat, then add 1/4 cup of the  yogurt and beat again. Repeat once more, add the remaining flour mixture, and beat again.
8. Add the almond extract and beat well.
9. Using your spatula, guide about half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out. Sprinkle 1/3 of the streusel over the batter. Pour the rest of your batter over the streusel and smooth again. Sprinkle the remaining streusel over the batter.
10. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan and serve.


1 Comment

    Picture

      Deborah Shepherd

    New recipes and Paleo adaptations of family favorites I've been cooking for years that I hope will work for all of us, whether Boomers or beyond.

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